Reading Text a. Customs and Traditions in Ukraine

1.Read the following text.

Speaking about modern Ukrainian customs and traditions it is necessary to stress that the hardworking Ukrainians proudly maintain their colourful folk culture, with music and art playing an important role, and their distinctive literary traditions. Ukrainians in general are kind, open, generous, easygoing and hospitable. They love good food and drink and have a hearty zest for life.

A modern average Ukrainian family has two working parents and usually one or two children. Children tend to live with their parents long after they finish school to an unspecified point when they are regarded as independent and are able to provide for themselves and their families. Sometimes children even have to rely on their aged parents in financial matters as the unemployment rate among the young is very high. A newly married couple often lives with either of their parents because they have no money to buy a house or flat of their own.

At the same time there is a growing number of one-parent families usually headed by a woman rearing a child. While the marriage rate gradually declines, the divorce rate slowly grows. Like in many other European countries there are quite a lot of young unmarried people living together and sharing a household. Bringing up a child in Ukraine is very costly now, and many couples decide to have only one child, or no children at all, if they are not well established in life. This leads to a definite decline of the birth rate.

In the village the families are usually larger, and the whole family works on the farm (or a patch of land they have) together. Most parents who live in the country want their children to get a higher education, so they send them to study to big cities and towns. After 5 years of studies, the children get used to the city way of life and seldom go home. In this way the number of the city dwellers increases all the time while the number of rural workers gradually declines.

Within families people become less dependent on each other, they spend less time together. In their struggle for survival, they forget about each other’s feelings and bring home their irritation and despair. Still parents think it important to teach their children daily skills and basic values of life. The most important values are honesty, common sense, purpose, responsibility, good manners and obedience to parents.

Teenagers of today are different in their minds from their parents when they were the same age. They grow up too fast, and they are very independent. They face many problems, much cruelty and many stresses. Today they should be brought up to expect that they will have to struggle to succeed. They want to go their own way which their parents do not always understand. Sometimes parents realize that their children can be good teachers for grown-ups, because teenagers can adjust to the new conditions of life quicker and more easily. When this happens, parents and children create a family microworld where they live in respect, love and harmony.

Most of Ukrainian middle-class and lower class urban families live in flats in multi-storied houses, only rather rich people can afford to build cottages either inside or outside the city boundaries. Many families have small country houses where they grow fruit and vegetables which are usually canned in seasons to be used in winter. Few people can afford to have a full-time rest during their holidays and to go to the sea-side or travel abroad. Most people have two or more jobs to be able to provide for their families.

Like most other people Ukrainians like holidays and merrymaking. They usually try to cook many tasty dishes and invite a lot of friends and relatives to their homes, or go to the country and have picnics in the woods or somewhere near the water when the weather is fine.

2.Match the following English words with their Ukrainian equivalents.

1) behaviour a) у середньому

2) unemployment b) покоління

3) influence c) роздратування

4) attitude d) рівень розлучень

5) adults e) поведінка

6) divorce rate f) виживання

7) birth rate g) безробіття

8) generation h) ставлення

9) on average i) дорослі

10) zest for life j) рівень народжуваності

11) survival k) вплив

12) irritation l) честолюбне прагнення

13) despair m)смак до життя

14) common sense n) ділянка землі

15) obedience o) підлітки

16) responsibility p) заміський дім

17) household q) консервування

18) a patch of land r) життєві цінності

19) city dwellers s) відчай

20) canning t) здоровий глузд

21) ambition u) господарство

22) country house v) відповідальність

23) teenagers w) слухняність

24) values of life x) міські жителі

3.Answer the questions.

1.Has the way of life in your family changed since 1991? How?

2.How many of your group-mates live with two parents and how many in one-parent families? What conclusions can you make?

3.What is your opinion about unmarried couples living together? What do your parents and grandparents think about it?

4.Do you have relatives in the country? Compare their way of life with yours. Who has to work harder?

5.Does your family have a country house? How often do you go there? What do you do there? Do you have to help your mother to do the canning in summer?

6.Do you know any unemployed people among your friends and acquaintances? What do they do for a living? Do they get any compensation money from the government?

7.Have you ever tried to find a temporary job for yourself? If yes, was it easy? What was it like?

8.What is the usual way of celebrating holidays in your family?

9.What kind of traditions, if any, does your family keep?